. >> reporter: he is right, especially in an election year. one number has many interpretations. president obama told a fairfax, virginia crowd this. >> this morning, we found out that the unemployment rate has fallen to its lowest level since i took office. >> reporter: he said there's more work to be done to help middle class families and said that is why he's running for reelection. >> but today's news certainly is not an excuse to try to talk down the economy to score a few political points. >> reporter: mitt romney told supporters in abington, virginia the country hasn't come far enough. >> now, we can do better. we don't have to stay on the path we've been on. >> reporter: businesses added 114,000 jobs in september, slower than growth earlier in the summer. romney pointed out the unemployment rate doesn't reflect people who stopped looking for work. >> if the same share of people were participating in the work force today, as on the day the president got elected, our unemployment rate would be around 11%. >> reporter: 8.8 million people lost their jobs during the recession,